Patent GB-269946-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in designation control for perforated card controlled machines
Filed: 1927-04-26
Abstract: 269,946. Accounting & Tabulating Machine Corporation, (Assignees of Paris, R. E.). April 26, 1926, [Convention date]. Void [Published under Sect. 91 of the Acts]. Printing totals. - In a statistical machine operated by grouped record-cards the latter, before passing through the ordinary tabulating pin-box, pass through a special designation pinbox which controls the action of the machine at a change of group in conjunction with a manual setting knob which decides whether the machine shall perform a " space-total " or a " spacetotal-space " operation. The cards are fed from a magazine 114, Figs. 1 and 2, through the throat 76 of the designation pin-box 75 and through rollers 80, 25 to the tabulating pin-box 10. In the pin-box 10, perforated plates 11, 12 form the card throat 13 and a control pin 14 has stepped shoulders 15 and 16 coacting with a hole 160 in a perforated plate 20 which slides in the undersurface of the plate 11 and is set according to the kind of control desired at a group change. This pin 14 is attached to an arm 18 which determines by its. position, whether mechanism connected therewith shall effect a " space-total " or " spacetotal-space" operation. The plate 20 is positioned relatively to the pin 14 by links 22, 23, shaft 26, links 27, and bars 28 which are reciprocated on pins 30. The two bars 28, Figs. 1 and 3, have each cam rollers 32 and 33. The two cam rollers 32 co-act with " space-total-space " cams 34 on a shaft 36 having a manual setting knob 38 and the rollers 33 co-operate with "spacetctal" cams 35. The axially moving shaft 36 carries two gear wheels 50. 41 which are driven by gears 42 43 rigid with a sleeve 44 and disc 46 in a 1: 2 and 1 : 3 ratio respectively. The wheels 40, 42 mesh when the cams 35 engage the rollers 33 and the wheels 41, 43 when the cams 34 engage the rollers 32. The disc 46 has a radial pin 47 engageable by a hook 48 pivoted at 50 to a driving clutch disc 51 slidably keyed to a shaft 45. When a cam member 53 depresses the end 52 of the hook 48 the clutch is disengaged. This cam 53 is pivoted at 55 and attached at 56 to an ear of a designation control plate 57 which is reciprocated vertically by arms 58 and links 59 pivoted to the pin-box. The plate 57 is in the path of pins 61, and is normally pressed upwards against them by springs 62. These pins 61 have shoulders 68 and cam notches 70 which coact with wires 71 passing through a longitudinally moving latch bar 72. Thus when a pin 61 is depressed the latch bar is moved to the left, Fig. 2, the shoulder 68 latches under its wire 71 and previously locked-down pins are released. The pins 61 are depressed by upper pins 67 having off-set heads 85 which coact with lugs 87 on a locking bar 86, the locking bar of each row of pins being separately removable by means of forked ends 88 &c. Cam shoulders 94 are on stationary members 97 at each side and when the pin-box moves downwards, rollers 95 clear the arms 94 and springs move the bars 86 to the right so that the lugs 87 pass under the heads of pins- 67 raised by the cam and lock over the heads of pins which have passed through perforations forcing the latter pins, on further downward movement, to depress their pins 61. When a pin 67 passes through a hole it depresses its corresponding pin 61 and the latter is locked down by the bar 72 and wire 71. The pin-box returns upwards and the locking bars 86 are returned to the left. As long as cards of the same group are passing through, the same pins 67 are depressed, correponding to the locked-down pins 61. The plate 57 is thus maintained locked down so that the cam member 53 depresses the ends 52 of the clutch hook 48, disengaging the clutch. When the first card of a new group is read different pins 67 and 61 are depressed, cam notches 70 release the previously locked-down pins 61, the plate 57 moves upwards and the clutch is thrown in. Immediately this happens and before the shoulders 68 of the newly depressed pins 61 are latched under the wires 71 the downward movement of the pin-box is arrested. Rotation of shaft 36 causes an arm 145 to lock the card picker mechanism 117, and other mechanism disables a card-feeding hook 127 in the upper, reciprocating card guide plate 77. Means are provided to prevent operation of the locking bars 86 when no card is present in the throat 76. The plate 20, Figs. 1 and 5, has its holes normally registering with those of the plates 11 and 12 and the pin 14 completely registers with its hole 160. If the machine is set for a "space-total" operation on a change of group, when the shaft 36 is clutched in as above described wheels 40, 42 mesh and cams 35 operate rollers 33 on the links 28. These cams move the link and thereby the plate 20 two successive steps, firstly so that the upward movement of pin 14 is arrested by its shoulder 15 meeting the edge of the hole 160, Fig. 7, and secondly, so that the pin 14 is moved upwards further until the shoulder 16 meets the edge of the hole. If the cams 34 are operating for a " space-total " operation the plate 20 is given a third movement in which the pin 14 completely registers with the hole 160 and moves, finally, fully upwards. U.S. Specification 1,245,503 is referred to.